


On Mandalorians

by Starofwinter



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Archived From Thebisexualmandalorian's Blog, Meta Essays, prose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 20:01:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16878294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/pseuds/Starofwinter
Summary: A series of meta essays I've written, based around my headcanons for Mandalorian culture.





	1. On Clan Names

**Author's Note:**

> These are only my headcanons, based on what I know of canon. I don't believe any of this is canon, and I don't insist anyone else use it as canon. If you would like to use it, you're more than welcome to, so long as you link back and credit!

Mandalorian clan names aren’t passed down patrilineally.  When partners of inequal rank are married, they usually take the clan name of the higher-ranking partner.  When the partners are of equal rank, there are multiple ways the decision of whose clan name to take can be made.  Some make the decision based on the size or age of their respective clans, some via combat, and some simply decide which name they like better.  

Additionally, it isn’t seen as leaving the birth clan for a member to be married - they still belong to their clan, and they can still pass down their clan name if they choose to.  It also isn’t unheard-of for someone to take up the clan name of their grandparents, or great-grandparents, or further back, for any reason.  They’re Mando’ade no matter what they choose. 

 

 


	2. Fauna of Mandalore

**Cabu’ev / Cabu’kers** \- Forest-protector or lance-protector, so named for their habitat and folkloric symbolism, and for their sharply-pointed antlers and insect-like legs. 

A native animal of Concord Dawn and Mandalore.  Once a common sight, they’ve become rarer in recent times.  Kyrt’sad points to this rarity as an example of Mandalore’s decline, but in truth, the years of war left much of their habitat destroyed.  

* * *

* * *

**Cetar’talyc** \- "bloody boots," named for their reddish legs and their propensity for brutally killing prey.

Primarily a native of Concord Dawn’s plains, cetar’talyc are legendary hunters.  They often stalk prey for miles, and are fearless when it comes to taking down much larger animals, including unwary (and unarmored) sentients.  Their attack, once their prey is worn down, is bloody and brutal, and often a slow one; they rarely fatally wound on the first try, seeming to prefer to play with their prey.  


	3. Holidays

Holidays for Mandalorians vary between clans, but there are a few that are nearly universal: Aay’han, Parjai, and Verd’partaylir.  

**Aay’han** falls at the end of the year, on whatever planets they inhabit.  Aay’han is “a bittersweet, perfect moment of mourning and joy,” to remember those who came before, keeping them alive.  While the Remembrance is said every night, this day is one to celebrate that life, even as they’re mourned.  It’s a day when stories about the Manda and the ancestors are told, being brought back by the memories of their descendants.  The ancestors can visit in a corporeal form, and it’s considered bad manners to turn away guests or ask them to remove their helmets if they wear them.  There’s plenty of food for everyone - food is shared between the clan and guests, so that no one is left out.  There are some individual family activities, but mostly it’s a clan-wide celebration, full of stories and food and light, to say goodbye to the old year and to bring the whole clan into the new year, with family both present and marching far away.

**Parjai** is a midsummer holiday, intended to celebrate victories throughout the year.  It’s another clan-wide party, even more joyful and happy than Aay’han.  It’s often a week-long affair, with plenty of food and entertainment, from storytelling to plays and music.  A bonfire is kept burning all week long, a visual symbol of victory and plenty.  The victories aren’t always martial - sometimes they’re personal: a marriage, new children, or recovering from illness.  Offerings and thanks are given to the Manda for their help, and often, new goals are set for the coming months.  

The last holiday is **Verd’partaylir**.  It’s a remembrance holiday, though more sober than Aay’han, and less widely celebrated.  Primarily celebrated by warriors, it memorializes those fallen in battle, and it’s intensely personal for those who do honor it.  They honor the lives of those marching far away, mostly those they fought alongside, and it’s traditional to drink a glass of tihaar and leave another filled, to share a drink with an old friend.  

 

 


	4. Ru'dinad

Mandalorian magic is part Force-sensitivity, as the Jedi would call it, but it also has ritualistic properties.  It’s a lot like Earth’s folk magic - it’s the  **belief**  that does it, because as Kanan says, everyone has the Force, it’s just a matter of how much they access it.  They have medicines, and traditional remedies, but there’s more to it than that.  There’s the Manda guiding their hands and their words, and they owe them thanks.  They’ll ask for help from a specific ancestor, theirs or a patient’s, or a hero.  There’s traditions passed down through generations and clans that don’t always match what others do, but that’s okay, because it works for  **them**.  They have little shrines to those who have marched on before, to ideals, to their gifts.  Payment isn’t asked for or offered, but a grateful family usually gives a gift to their  _ru’dinad_  or their shrine, just to consider the balance settled, as a matter of courtesy.

The Mandalorians call it “Tarre’s Gift,” and they don’t talk about it to  _aruetiise_.  This is  **theirs**  and their people are  **theirs**  and they’re not letting them be carted off to the  _shabla_  Republic, because what’s the Republic ever done for them?  If they ever do say anything, Ruusaan over there has a good eye for a sniper, and Vevut is the best doctor for miles, and young Ordo can bring any crop back to life, no matter how bad the growing season’s been, and isn’t that just  **something**?  

They won’t let their kids be taken anymore.  The Mando mindset is  _munit tome'tayl, skotah iisa -_  long memory, short fuse - and they remember too well what happened to the children that were taken; if they ever came back, they came back as  **strangers** , as  _Jetii_ , with no traditions, no memory of the families that had let them be taken away, and that won’t happen again.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ru’dinad - gifted one


	5. Kaysh'tayle

The kaysh’tayle are “they who remember.”  Most clans have one; they’re the ones who remember every clan member, their families, their stories, and the legends that have been passed down through the generations about the heroes who’ve marched away.  They trade stories with other clans, and preserve their memories too.  It’s not a formalized role, but there’s always at least one child per generation who shows a remarkable aptitude for memory, and they’re started early in learning the stories.  There’s no limit for  _how many_  kaysh’tale a clan has, but they always have at least one.  

This is mirrored in many of the clones, with their eidetic memory - it’s easier for them, but some have far more interest in it, and they hold onto the memories of the vode who’ve marched away, to ensure they’re always remembered.

 


End file.
